October 9, 2016: If the duration of a journey is between 5-12 hours, most travellers choose bus transport, says a survey which had participants hailing from cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru.

Based on interaction with a sample size of 500 customers, online bus booking platform Travelyaari took a survey that sheds light on traveller’s behaviour and preferences with regard to road travel.

The survey revealed that if the duration of a journey is between 5-12 hours, 76 percent of travellers in India choose bus transport.

Of the customers surveyed, almost 60 percent were a part of a family with one child and 40 percent had two children. Transport choices also seem to be dictated by the availability of additional incentives.

Apart from regular discounts, online bus booking is highly influenced by ease-of-use and loyalty points offered with 57 percent travellers marking ‘offers and ease of use’ as their primary incentive.

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It was observed that the respondents from different segments prefer to travel by bus when it is an overnight journey to visit their native place and tend to prefer bus travel because of the comfort and ease of booking.

The survey also included questions regarding the preferred leisure activity of respondents and 52 percent travellers choose to watch TV and movies to relax and unwind during their road journeys.

“Amongst other results, we have been pleased to find that respondents from across different segments prefer to book their bus tickets through categories ‘ease’ and ‘attractive offers’ as the reasons for their preference,” Aurvind Lama, CEO and Co-founder of Travelyaari said in a statement. (IANS)

Raja Chari is an American of Indian descent chosen by NASA for the new batch of astronauts

Currently, he is a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force

Chari will have to go through two years of astronaut training which begins in August

June 06, 2017: NASA has chosen 12 astronauts out of a record-breaking 18,300 applications for upcoming space missions. An American of Indian descent, Raja Chari, has successfully earned his spot in the top 12.

The astronauts were selected on the basis of expertise, education, and physical tests. This batch of 12 astronauts is the largest group selected by NASA since two decades. The group consisting of 7 men and 5 women surpassed the minimum requirements of NASA.

Born in Waterloo, Iowa, Chari graduated from Air Force Academy in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in Astronautical Engineering and Engineering Science. He went on to complete his master’s in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The astronaut is also a graduate of US Naval Test Pilot School.

Currently, Raja Chari is a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force. He is the commander of 461st Flight Test Squadron and director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

After Late Kalpana Chawla, Lt. Col. Raja Chari is the second Indian American astronaut chosen by NASA.

The 12 astronauts will have to go through two years of training. Upon completion, they will be assigned their missions ranging from research at the International Space Station, launching from American soil on spacecraft by private companies, to flying on deep space missions on NASA’s Orion Spacecraft.

The US Vice-President Mike Pence visited the Johnson Space Centre in Houston to announce and congratulate the new batch. Pence also said that President Trump is “fully committed” to NASA’s missions in space.